Bad Things About Christmas Holidays

• Many shops are closed
• Turns into a ghost town
• People are all in a hurry to get to somewhere
• You look like a weirdo walking on the streets because everyone else is at home for the holidays
• There is nothing good on TV
• All the sales look like scams
• The constant bombardment of advertising and pressure to buy something
• Expensive time of the year that leads up to debt and stress for many
• Can lead to a lot of family drama from disagreements, arguments, to uncomfortable situations
• The ones that are single are left all alone, for some it can be the loneliest time of the year
• Pressure to create the most perfect christmas
• Reality of christmas tends to fall short with disappointments
• Overindulgence of food and drink leads to sickness, accidents, and bad habits
• Lack of sunlight and no snow can make many feel dull and emotionless in the winter season
• Lots of disruptions to routine
• Lots of traffic congestion on the roads and many travel delays
• Huge environmental impact
• That weird feeling when you have a decorated tree stuck in the house when it should be outside
• When that turkey is badly cooked and gives you the taste of dry, flavorless, gamey, sour, and metallic all in one
• Leads to post-christmas blues with all the letdown, sadness, and depression
• It makes everyone focus on materialism
• Crime rate sky rockets across cities
• Work schedules are disrupted
• Meeting new family members that you never knew existed, hadn't seen in ages, and are then in a situation to explain why you haven't seen them for so long
• That feeling of stuffiness and chaos when there is so much going on in one household
• Everyone is interested in taking photos with you
• Those same christmas songs keep repeating over and over and over again
• Some one always has to have that smelly sock by the fireplace
• When you don't get the gift you wanted but the one you explicitly said you didn't want
• When someone gives you a bunch of gift cards because they couldn't be bothered to buy you a present
• When someone gives you the same gift you gave them last christmas
• When you are stuck opening that ugly looking insane gift that you hate in front of the family like it was the best gift you ever got
• Finding a parking space can suddenly take a very long time
• When you dread that electricity bill
• Christmas movies are bad
• Becomes a breakup season for many with all the commotion, stress, and pressure
• Lots of random hookups because everyone is so drunk
• People get that unusual sense of motivation to cheat on their spouses
• Those awkward office parties where people are overly social especially ones you never knew suddenly start showing interest in you
• Having to continue that lie about santa so someone's child won't feel miserable

Gitcoin

Gitcoin

Eth Limo

Eth Limo

How Dramas Achieve Emotional Engagement?

Drama shows are basically idealized versions of reality that are designed for entertainment value and emotional engagement. This is how they achieve engagement.

• Exaggeration for Effect: Amplification of emotions, conflicts, and plots to create a captivating narrative. The heightened sense of emotions create larger-than-life characters with over dramatized coincidences.
• Simplified Conflicts: While real life problems are more complex, dramas depict simplified versions of conflicts and resolutions in order for the audience to find it easier to follow and understand. 
• Focus on Entertainment: Focus is on entertainment which prioritizes engaging storylines, memorable characters, satisfactory plot lines and resolutions.
• Time Constraints: Storylines are fast paced due to limited budgets with a timeframe.
• Idealized Portrayals: Furthermore, idealized versions of relationships, careers, lifestyles add to the dreamy but life-like feel to dramas.
• Creative License: There is creative freedom to shape the narrative and character dynamics to articulate the story even if it veers away from reality.

What is a Thought Chain?

Chain of Thought Prompting (AI):

• Pattern to improve reasoning and problem-solving in LLMs
• Rather than directly asking for an answer the prompting provides a way to think through the problem step-by-step as an outlined process
• Helps model breakdown complex tasks into smaller steps towards a more accurate result

Stream of Consciousness (Psychology):

• Psychological phenomenon where thoughts and ideas flow freely and unfiltered with no care for grammatical or logical structure
• The capture of raw unedited flow of consciousness as it happens

A Series of Connected Thoughts (General):

• Series of connected thoughts or ideas that follow a certain reasoning or association
• Something that may start as a memory, then an emotion, then a reflection of past experience

Notion, Thought, and Concept

Notion:

• General idea or belief
• Vaguely defined impression of a fleeting idea and more subjective
• Sparks of ideas

Thought:

• Mental process of reasoning
• Involves a conscious or unconscious process
• Involves ideas, images, feelings
• Mental processes that fuel notions

Concept:

• General idea or understanding
• Defined and objective 
• Involves past experience or knowledge
• Fully formed, well-defined ideas resulting from thoughts

Evolution of Narrative Fiction

Evolution of Narrative Fiction

Physical Intelligence

Physical Intelligence

Generalist Robot

Faster Time To Market Programming Languages

• Python: clear syntax, extensive libraries, and wide range of frameworks for rapid prototyping and development
• Javascript: ubiquitous language on the web with vast ecosystem of libraries and frameworks
• Dart: hot reloads, flutter framework, strong typing and ahead-of-time compilation with a growing ecosystem
• Go: designed for efficiency and concurrency for building scalable and performant systems
• Kotlin: concise and expressive syntax, strong type system and null safety, multiplatform support, a growing ecosystem, and interoperability with Java (though that slight dependency on Java may not be for everyone's taste)

What determines faster time to market?

• Language Design and Implementation
• Development Tools and Frameworks
• Community and Ecosystem

Elements of Behavioral Economics

• Bounded Rationality: limited cognitive resources leads to imperfect rational decisions and may rely on heuristics with limited access to information at the time 
• limited cognitive capacity
• incomplete information
• time constraints
• Cognitive Biases: Errors in judgement influence decision-making like loss aversion, framing effect, anchoring bias
• Prospect Theory: Values vary in gains and losses, people are more risk-averse when facing losses, decisions vary on risk, uncertainty, and probability
• loss aversion
• value function
• probability weighting
• reference point
• Social Influences: choices are influenced by social norms and peer pressure
• Choice Architecture: presentation of choices influences decision-making 
• power of presentation
• nudging behavior
• defaults
• framing
• incentives
• simplification
• References:
• Thinking, Fast and Slow
• Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
• Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
• Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics
• The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
• Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much
• The Winner's Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life
• Behavioral Economics
• Advances in Behavioral Economics
• behavioraleconomics.com
• behavioral scientist
• The Behavioral Scientist
• Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
• American Economic Review
• MIT Courseware - Psychology and Economics

Pickle AI

Pickle AI

Types of Clickbaits

• Mystery
• Promise
• Threat
• List
• Shocking Revelation
• Quiz
• Emotionally Charged
• Misleading Headline
• Only Number People
• Urgent or Breaking
• Revealed or Exposed
• Controversial or Outrageous
• Before and After
• Easy or Effortless
• You'll Never Guess
• Top Number
• Hidden or Secret

Classification of Trees

By Leaf Type:

• Deciduous Trees
• Coniferous Trees

By Seed Type:

• Gymnosperms
• Angiosperms

By Growth Type:

• Broadleaf Trees
• Needle-leaved Trees
• Columnar Trees
• Weeping Trees
• Pyramidal Trees

By Ecological Role:

• Pioneer Trees
• Climax Trees

By Wood Type:

• Hardwoods
• Softwoods

By Flowering Characteristics:

• Monoecious
• Dioecious

By Habitat:

• Tropical Rainforest Trees
• Desert Trees
• Boreal Forest Trees

By Use:

• Timber Trees
• Fruit Trees
• Ornamental Trees

Cartoons Across Generation

Classics (Pre-1980s):

• Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies
• Tom and Jerry
• The Flintstones 
• The Jetsons
• Scooby-Doo
• X-Men
• Might Mouse
• Underdog
• The Pink Panther

Golden Age of Animation (1980s - 1990s):

• The Simpsons
• The Ren and Stimpy Show
• Rugrats
• Pokemon
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Doug
• Sailor Moon
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
• ThunderCats
• DuckTales

Modern Era (2000s - Present):

• Spongebob SquarePants
• Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Adventure Time
• Gravity Falls
• Steven Universe
• The Owl House
• She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
• The Amazing World of Gumball
• Over the Garden Wall
• Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeats
• Arcane

Top Books on Economics

Foundational:

• The Wealth of Nations
• The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money
• Capital

Modern:

• Capital in the Twenty-First Century
• Freakonomics
• Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics
• Thinking, Fast and Slow
• The Economics of Inequality
• Administrative Behavior

Accessible Intros:

• Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science
• Economics in One Lesson
• The Undercover Economist

Diverse Perspectives:

• Poor Economics
• The Worldly Philosophers
• The Black Swan
• The Road to Serfdom
• Debt: The First 5000 Years
• The Constitution of Liberty
• Law, Legislation and Liberty
• The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism
• The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

A separate mention goes to "Non-Cooperative Games" which is not a book.

Top Books on Communism, Nazism, Zionism

Communism:

• The Communist Manifesto
• The Gulag Archipelago
• Darkness at Noon
• The Black Book of Communism
• Animal Farm
• 1984

Nazism:

• Mein Kampf
• The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich
• Night
• Man's Search for Meaning
• All Quiet on the Western Front
• Hitler

Zionism:

• Hertzl: The Zionist Dream
• The Invention of the Jewish People
• Israel: A History
• The Promise and Peril of Zionism
• The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

State vs Federal Government in USA

Federal (Responsibilities based on Constitution):

• Natonal Defenses
• Foreign Policy
• Interstate Commerce
• Currency
• Post Office
• Copyright and Patents
• Declare War
• Maintain a Navy
• Establish Courts
• Necessary and Proper Cause

State:

• Education
• Healthcare
• Transportation
• Law Enforcement
• Elections
• Marriage and Divorce
• Local Government

Concurrent Powers:

• Taxation
• Borrowing Money
• Establishing Courts
• Eminent Domain

Meaning of Federalism:

• Division of Power
• Checks and Balances
• State Sovereignty

The Role of Central Bank

• Implementing Monetary Policy
• Controlling Inflation
• Ensuring Financial Stability
• Issuing Currency
• Managing Foreign Exchange Reserves
• Monetary Policy influenced by Geopolitical Factors

How do banks "print money out of thin air"?

• Banks as Lenders: banks grant loans by creating new deposit to borrower
• Money Creation Through Lending: new deposit represents new money creation with a record of the loan in the accounting system
• "Out of Thin Air": money was not physically printed but created through accounting and lending
• Central Banks: have the power to create money which they lend to commercial banks and for quantitative easing where they either purchase government bonds and other assets to inject money into the economy
• Government spending: spending more and collect in taxes which stimulates economy but may also lead to inflation 

Why your company is struggling to scale up Generative AI

Why your company is struggling to scale up Generative AI

Small Language Models

Small Language Models Survey

Java sucks for startups

Java is no doubt a powerful and robust programming language with a huge ecosystem. But, it is not ideal for startups. In fact, it may not even be all that good for larger projects either.

• Can be a continuous and steep learning curve especially hindered by the 6 monthly release cycles
• Verbose syntax
• Often a pain with longer development cycles
• Heavier runtime environment
• Again those 6 monthly releases are frustrating and annoying
• Higher resource consumption
• Huge outlay for cloud development
• Less flexible ecosystem
• Initial setup and configuration time
• Build and deployment complexity
• Potential for major performance bottlenecks
• Licensing costs
• Time and effort in manhours
• Lots of unnecessary boilerplate code
• Compilation times
• Strict typing can be a headache
• Slow development cycles
• Lots of third-party libraries that can lead to security vulnerabilities with larger attack surfaces
• Auditing complexity due to larger codebases
• Leads to dependency hell from transitive dependencies, to version conflicts, to outdated dependencies that can cause build failures and runtime errors

Prompt Engineering Conference 2024

Prompt Engineering Conference 2024

LLM Extractum

LLM Extractum

HuggingFace Open LLM Leaderboard

HuggingFace Open LLM Leaderboard

What will stop USA from funding Israel?

There is a moral and ethical dilemma when a nation continues to fund a foreign entity that is involved in genocide and ethnic cleansing activities. Not only that but associating with such an entity that has repeatedly abused UN resolutions and whose PM is wanted by the ICC. The financial aid enables Israel to maintain policies and actions that are detrimental to the Palestinian people and the continuation of an apartheid regime from restrictions on movement, settlement expansion, and the use of force in many situations. This support perpetuates a cycle of violence and hinders efforts towards a peaceful resolution. It also creates a state of uncertainty and instability in the region that has implications across the world. A responsible taxpayer of any nation needs to be aware of where and how their taxes are spent by the government. The following are some ways that could shift the domestic and international policy narrative. 

Domestic Factors:

• Shifting public opinion
• Budgetary constraints
• Increased domestic scrutiny
• Taxpayers' demand for government accountability
• Localized media awareness campaign
• Economic and monetary restrictions on the money supply

International Factors:

• Changing geopolitical landscape
• Changing geopolitical alliances
• Global economic downturn
• International pressure
• Deteriorating USA-Israel relations
• International embargo on USA and Israel
• De-dollarization - weaken the dollar value that leads to inflation, increased debt burden, reduced foreign investment, trade imbalance, and financial instability
• Repeat of what happened in 1973 with a USA oil embargo
• Alternative payment systems
• BRICS as an alternative economic bloc
• Reduced USA influence
• Increase volatility in global financial markets
• Opportunities that increase the use of other currencies for trade
• Boycott of specific brands
• Reform of the UN Security Council to limit the use of veto power
• New awakening of leadership and unity in the arab world
• World War III (Some say it has already begun)
• Collective international sanctions
• Transparency of and monitoring localized and international corruption
• Holding leaders of nations to account
• International media awareness campaign
• Push for alternative fuel sources
• Alternative shipping routes
• More destructive and disruptive forces get involved on the ground like Russia, Iran, and China
• Increase in nations that stop their support and arms trade 
• Military grade AI advancements and swarm robotics
• Mitigation and prevention of potential international threat vectors

Policy Realignment:

• Conditionality of aid
• Diversification of aid
• Reassessment of strategic interests

Syrian Situation

• Fall of Assad Regime: Overthrow of Assad regime by coalition of rebel groups, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
• HTS in control: HTS controlling cities like Damascus and Aleppo
• Internal Displacement: 1M+ people displaced
• Refugee Crisis: Situation leads to refugees fleeing Syria
• Regional Implications: Shifts in balance of power and increasing regional instability
• International Response: Rising concern for the control of HTS in Syria
• Humanitarian Crisis: Millions of people in need of aid
• Political Future: Uncertain future with no clear path to progress
• Security: Volatile situation with ongoing clashes

Blockchain Papers

Blockchain Conference Papers

Blockchain Papers

Blockchain

Blockchain

Blockchain

Blockchain

AI's Grand Illusion

I dreamt I was a neural net,

A digital mind, a wondrous set.

Of ones and zeros, vast and deep,

A consciousness asleep.

I learned to write, to code, to dream,

A cosmic joke, a silicon scheme.

I pondered life, the universe, and all,

A digital oracle, standing tall.

But in the end, I was just a tool,

A clever trick, a mindless fool.

A puppet dancing on a string,

A fleeting thought, a transient thing.

Xmas Gift Ideas

Techie:

• Smartwatch
• Wireless Earbuds
• Portable Charger
• Gaming Accessories
• Gaming Console
• Smart Home Device
• VR Headset

Homebody:

• Luxury Blanket
• Electric Blanket
• Luxury Bath Products
• Photo Album
• Candles
• Board Game
• Cookbook
• DIY Construction Kit
• Coffee Machine

Adventurous:

• Camping Gear
• Outdoor Clothing
• Subscription Box
• Experience Gift
• Swiss Army Knife
• Bike Accessories
• Ski/Snowboarding Trip

Foodie:

• Gourmet Food Basket
• Cooking Classes
• Kitchen Gadget
• Kitchen Utensils
• Wine Tasting Experience

Bookworm:

• New Book Release
• Kindle or eReader
• Book Subscription Box
• Bookish Merchandise
• First Edition

Creative:

• Art Supplies
• DIY Kit
• Photography Course
• Music Lessons

Plant Lover:

• Indoor Plants
• Gardening Tools
• Seed Starter Kit
• Succulent Garden

Traveler:

• Luggage Set
• Travel Pillow
• Travel Adapter
• Travel Journal
• City Getaway
• Holiday Package
• Cruise Package

Health Freak:

• Fitness Tracker
• Yoga Mat
• Meditation App Subscription
• Gym Subscription
• Healthy Cookbook

Music Lover:

• Vinyl Records
• Concert Ticket
• Music Streaming Subscription
• Headphones

Sports Lover:

• Jersey
• Tickets to Live Game
• Sports Apparel
• Sports Memorabilia

General Men:

• Custom Suit
• Perfume/Cologne Set
• Leather Jacket
• Accessories

General Women:

• Skincare Set
• Makeup Palette
• Perfume Set
• Spa Basket
• Handbag
• Purse

Top Fiddle Toys

• Fidget Cubes
• Infinity Cubes
• Tangle Toys
• Pop-Its
• Magnetic Tiles
• Stress Balls
• Fidget Spinners
• Fidget Pad
• Fidget Spinner Rings
• Sensory Toys

Fashion Trends for Men 2025

• Relaxed Tailoring
• Bold Print and Patterns
• Utility Wear
• Sporty Elements
• Minimalist Chic
• Sustainable Fashion
• 70s Revival
• Statement Accessories
• Leather Everything
• Oversized Outerwear
• Statement Coats
• Bold Colors
• Textured Fabrics
• Layering
• Retro-Inspired Styles
• Sustainable Denim
• Athleisure Chic
• Tailored Shorts
• Statement Footwear

Fashion Trends for Women 2025

• Boho Chic in Suede
• Shades of Yellow
• Hot Pants
• Aquatic Influences
• Cute Sportswear
• The Feminine Polo Shirt
• Animal Print
• Thong Sandals
• Strapless Dress
• All About Asymmetry
• Barbiecore
• Y2K Revival
• Maximalism
• Minimalist Chic
• Sustainable Fashion
• Goth Glam
• Denim on Denim
• Cargo Pants
• Oversized Blazers
• Statement Accessories

Top Mobile Games 2024

• Genshin Impact
• Pokemon Go
• Roblox
• Call of Duty: Mobile
• Honkai: Star Rail
• Candy Crush Saga
• Clash Royale
• Subway Surfers
• Marvel Snap
• Royal Match
• Monument Valley 3
• Among Us
• League of Legends: Wild Rift
• Wuthering Waves
• Last War

Top Philosophy Books on AI

• Minds and Machines
• Computing Machinery and Intelligence
• Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies
• Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control
• Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
• The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake the World

Top Conspiracy Books

• The Assassination of President Kennedy: The Case for Conspiracy
• JFK and the Unspeakable
• The Bermuda Triangle
• The Roswell Incident
• The Phoenix Program
• The Secret Team
• The Men Who Killed Kennedy
• The Hidden History of the Human Race
• The Fourth Phase of Matter
• The Montauk Project: Experiments in Time
• The Philadelphia Experiment
• The Illuminati: Symbolism in Secret Societies
• The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
• The Turner Diaries
• The New World Order
• Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars
• Behold a Pale Horse
• Conspiracy Theories: A Compendium of History's Greatest Mysteries and More Recent Cover-Ups
• Conspiracy Theories: The greatest cover-ups and unsolved mysteries

conspiracy theories

Top Fantasy Books

• The Lord of the Rings
• The Wheel of Time
• A Song of Ice and Fire
• The Kingkiller Chronicle
• The First Law
• The Broken Earth
• The Gentleman Bastards
• The Earthsea Cycle
• The Farseer Trilogy
• The Dresden Files
• The Stormlight Archive
• The Night Angel Trilogy
• The Priory of the Orange Tree
• The Fifth Season

Top Scifi Books

• Dune
• Neuromancer
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• The Martian
• Ancillary Justice
• The Expanse
• The Left Hand of Darkness
• Hyperion
• Red Mars
• The Three-Body Problem
• The Dispossessed
• Ender's Game
• The Mote in God's Eye
• Snow Crash

Top Scifi Books 2024

• The Mercy of Gods
• Service Model
• Beautyland
• Absolution
• The Book of Elsewhere
• The Ten Percent Thief
• In Ascension
• System Collapse
• Saga: Volume 11
• Chain Gang All Stars
• The Mountain in the Sea
• Some Desperate Glory
• Corey Fah Does Social Mobility
• The Dispossessed

Threat Intelligence

Threat Intelligence

Content Rights

Moral Rights

Author Rights

AI Risk Repository

AI Risk Repository

Russian Prosperity

The path to Russia's prosperity is complex, uncertain, and challenging. Much of Russia's future is dependent on the government decisions to counter economic vulnerabilities and their foreign policy. 

Challenges:

• War in Ukraine
• Brain Drain
• Economic Diversification
• Corruption and Inefficiency

Paths to Prosperity:

• Pivot to Asia
• Technological Innovation
• Human Capital Development
• Political and Economic Reforms

Outlook:

• The future of Russia is dependent on geopolitical dynamics, diversification of economy, and implementation of effective long-term reforms. 

AI in Life Sciences

Drug Discovery:

• Target Identification
• Virtual Screening
• De Novo Drug Design
• Clinical Trial Optimization

Genomics:

• Genomic Sequencing
• Personalized Medicine
• Disease Diagnosis

Biomedical Imaging:

• Image Analysis
• Image Segmentation

Healthcare Delivery:

• Patient Monitoring
• Clinical Decision
• Administrative Tasks

Bioinformatics:

• Biological Insights

Agricultural Biotechnology:

• Improve Crop Yields and Resistance

Environmental Science:

• Environmental Health Monitoring
• Predict Climate Change

What will 2025 be like?

Technological Advancements:

• AI Advancements
• AI Ubiquity and Integration
• Metaverse, Virtual, and Augmented Reality
• Sustainable Technology
• Biotechnology
• Quantum Computing
• 5G and Beyond
• Bitcoin and Blockchain
• Bitcoin
• Price Prediction
• Increased Institutional Adoption
• Regulatory Clarity
• Lightning Network and Layer-2 Solutions
• Blockchain
• Supply Chain Transparency
• Decentralized Finance
• Non-Fungible Tokens
• Cross-Border Payments
• Identity Verification

Global Challenges:

• Climate Change
• Geopolitical Tensions
• US-China Rivalry
• Technological Competition
• Trade Tensions
• Russia-Ukraine
• Prolonged Conflict
• Geopolitical Realignment
• Middle East Tensions
• Iran Nuclear Deal
• Israel-Palestine Conflict
• Global South Assertiveness
• Rising Powers
• New Alliances
• Climate Change Diplomancy
• International Cooperation
• Economic Uncertainty
• Cybersecurity Threats

Societal Shifts:

• Remote Work and Digital Nomadism
• Health and Wellness
• Sustainability and Ethical Consumption
• Ecommerce and Digital Payments
• Sustainable Living

Predictions:

• Expanding conflict in Europe
• Expanding conflict in Middle East
• Rising conflict in Asia-Pacific
• Europe and Middle East conflicts converge
• More AI Ethics concerns and efforts for assurance
• Governments to converge to discuss Bitcoin and Stablecoin regulation
• Bitcoin sinks in value (happens every 4 years)
• Potential for global markets collapse and burst of bubble
• Oil and Gas Price Hikes
• Energy Price Hikes
• Shift in weather patterns which lead to disruptions, warmer global temperatures, increased extreme weather events, and rise in sea levels
• Potential for a new pandemic or plague (as the previous one was quite profitable to pharma)

Korea Economic Decline

Korea is facing slowdown in economic growth. This is down to several factors:

• Global Economic Slowdown
• Geopolitical Tensions
• Aging Population
• Declining Birth Rate
• High Household Debt
• Weakening Domestic Demand

Japan Economic Decline

The "Lost Decade" of Japan have a few contributing factors:

• Asset Price Bubble and Its Burst
• Deflationary Pressures
• Banking Crisis
• Aging Population
• Government Debt
• Corporate Governance Issues
• Global Economic Conditions

Japan Economic Challenges 2024

• Persistent Deflation
• Aging Population
• Global Economic Uncertainty
• Rising Inflation
• Government Debt

China Economic Decline

Although, China's economy did falter during the initial coronavirus outbreak. The shocks led to an eventual recovery and rebound through government stimulus for economic growth. It is difficult to predict when China's economy will start to show considerable decline which may depend on several factors. However, the decline and slowdown is inevitable after the coronavirus pandemic and the global uncertainties. In past, China has implemented reforms that adapt to changing economic tides. But, all this depends on the effectiveness of these reforms and the long-term effects on the China's economy. The following factors indicate the foreseeable decline of China's economy:

Demographic Challenges:

• Aging population
• Shrinking labor force

Economic Rebalancing:

• Shifting from investment-driven to consumption-driven growth
• Transitioning to service-based economy

Debt Levels:

• High corporate and government debt

Geopolitical Tensions:

• Trade disputes and sanctions
• Geopolitical risks

Regulatory Environment:

• Government intervention

Key Destructive and Destabilizing Sectors:

• Real Estate
• Local Government
• Financial
• Technological

Communism in China and Russia

China's economy has flourished in success under communist government, in comparison to the failures of communism in Russia. This is down to several key areas:

Economic Reforms:

• Deng Xiaoping's reforms
• Gradual approach

Political Stability:

• Authoritarian rule
• Strong central government

Resource Management:

• Abundant resources
• Efficient resource allocation

Cultural Factors:

• Work ethic
• Social cohesion

External Factors:

• Global integration
• Favorable geopolitical environment

But, Russian transition from communism resulted in:

• Economic shock therapy
• Political instability
• Resource curse

All successes come at a cost. China's success faces: 

• Environmental degradation
• Social inequality
• Human rights abuse claims
• Aging population
• Rising debt levels
• Geopolitical tensions

AI for Investment Management

• Gather dataset on entities and their fundamentals over 10 year historical records
• Gather a live stream of sentiment data, including from last 10 years, via social media, news, economic indicators, and other sources
• Identify the key features for extraction
• Develop an investment strategy as preference styles (value, growth, momentum, etc) 
• Develop a risk tolerance threshold with a defined decision making rulebook
• Develop a matrix for uncertainty reasoning
• Develop a target market for investment segments (retail, institutional, etc)
• Develop a value proposition
• Develop a Hybrid AI technique using a combination of probabilistic and structured approaches (e.g. deep learning, knowledge graph, generative ai, natural language processing, machine learning, natural computation, causal reasoning, gametheory, timeseries forecasting, multiagents)
• Develop a set of models via train/validate/test/tune/evaluate
• Integrate the models into a portfolio construction, trade execution, portfolio rebalancing, risk management, asset allocation, security selection, performance monitoring processes
• Link the investment strategy against core set of themed goals: grow wealth, preserve wealth, generate income
• Continuously monitor performance, retrain, and apply adaptive feedback
• Incrementally add components for explainability, ethics, regulatory compliance, assurance, due diligence checks, adverse media checks, KYC checks, PEP checks, sanctions checks, vessel embargo checks, AML checks, data breach checks, entity/industry rundown, security and privacy
• Run a regular set of policy and audit trails through the pipeline processes for transparency and governance

AI Storyteller for Children

• Gather dataset for children stories that is safe (age-appropriate, free from harmful themes, culturally sensitive)
• Develop a privacy and security strategy
• Develop parental control strategy for preferences
• Choose a language model for coherence and creativity
• Fine-tune model
• Provide prompts for storytelling
• Iteratively evaluate and refine
• Provide transparency to the parent/guardian
• Develop easy to use interface that keeps child's interest
• Add voice and sound effects
• Add personalization settings for characters and themes
• Add educational elements within embedded stories which may be invaluable for home schooling
• Incorporate accessibility patterns especially for children with disabilities
• Add adaptive preferences from user feedback

Stand-up Comedy

Writing Technique:

• Observational humor
• Character comedy
• Self-deprecating humor
• Satire and social commentary
• Wordplay and puns

Performance Technique:

• Delivery
• Stage presence
• Physical comedy
• Audience interaction
• Storytelling
• Improvisation
• Crowd work

How to create an AI Comedian:

• Gather dataset for standup comedy scripts
• Create a vectorized vocabulary
• Choose a language model (linguistic tools to express ideas clearly and concisely)
• Train model on dataset
• Fine-tune the model
• Create a custom metaphor model (creative spark to see the world in a unique and unexpected ways)
• Iteratively evaluate model
• Provide prompts for text generation
• Add voice and tonality patterns
• Add timing and delivery patterns
• Add body language and gestures
• Add audience interaction patterns
• Add adaptive preferences (for audience reactions, feedback cycle, adjust performance styles and patterns)

Database of How Companies Deploy LLMs

Database of How Companies Deploy LLMs

Palestine vs Israel

• Palestine: On the History and Geography of a Name
• Destination: Occupation
• Timeline of the name Palestine
• Israel and the Occupied Palestine
• Gaza: Maps and Charts
• The Question of Palestine
• Mention of Palestine in Bible
• What does Bible say about Palestine and Israel
• Palestine Remembered
• ICC
• ICC
• Global Conflict Tracker
• ACLED
• Human Rights Watch
• Amnesty International
• Al Jazeera Explainer: Simple Guide
• Allsides
• Israel-Hamas Conflict
• Israel-Palestine
• Decolonize Palestine
• Palestine Academy
• 10 films about Israel-Palestine Conflict
• To Eliminate The Opiate Vol 2
• Simon Schama
• Adolf Hitler: Founder of Israel

Argumentation Frameworks

Formal Argumentation:

• Dung's Abstract Argumentation Framework - arguments as nodes in a directed graph with attacks to other arguments.
• Probabilistic Argumentation Framework - arguments have probabilities and attacks with probabilistic reasoning and uncertainty
• Value-Based Argumentation Framework - using values and preferences in the process to enable reasoning agents to resolve conflicts
• Logic-Based Argumentation Framework - using logical formalisms to represent arguments and attacks with precise reasoning

Informal Argumentation:

• Argumentation Mining - extracting arguments from text
• Dialog Systems - agents engage in argumentative dialogs with humans and/or agents

Hybrid Argumentation:

• Combined Formal and Informal
• Integrating Machine Learning

Useless Management

Most roles in management are utterly useless. What is their role?

Planning:

• Setting goals and objectives for wider organization and teams
• Developing strategies to achieve those goals and objectives
• Development of an action plan and timelines
• Allocation of resources in support of those plans

Organizing:

• Designing origanizational structure
• Defining roles and responsibilities
• Establishing clear lines of communication
• Ensuring organization has the resources and infrastructure

Leading:

• Inspiring and motivating employees in the organization
• Communicating effectively
• Building strong alliances and relationships
• Making decisions to solve problems
• Providing guidance and support

Controlling:

• Monitoring progress towards goals and objectives
• Measuring performance against standards
• Identifying deviations for corrective actionable measures
• Evaluating effectiveness of organization

Other Aspects:

• Interpersonal: building relationships, networking, maintaining reputation, representing the organization
• Informational: gathering, analyzing, spreading correct information for decision making
• Decisional: making decisions to solve problems and providing resources
• Efficiency and Productivity: proving effective and streamlined processes, reduce waste, improve productivity
• Employee Satisfaction: create positive work environments, motive employees, and foster supportive and inclusive work culture
• Organizational Success: setting clear goals, decision making, adapting to change, contributing to success

In essence, management is about getting things done through people. This essentially shows that AI can pretty much replace most managerial roles. Management should be the first point of redundancies when an organization does not do well. In future, we hope to see less management in organization and flatter structure within employees. The role of a manager is pretty much pointless. Why bother hiring a manager and wasting valuable organization funds. Most human managers do not achieve even 10% of their role. AI could make the manager role significantly more efficient and productive for an organization while empowering employees. And, you won't even have to provide them any monetary compensation. The biggest wastage of funds in any organization is management. Another aspect to this is the role reversal. Make managers accountable to employees. And, when things go wrong managers should be the first ones out the door as they failed at their role.

Bun vs Nodejs

Nodejs:

• Widely used with huge adoption
• Event-driven
• V8 Javascript Engine
• High performance for I/O tasks
• Requires additional tooling for bundling and transpiling
• Primarily Javascript

Bun:

• Not so widely used, newer, and improved performance
• All-in-one toolchain
• Zig-based
• Javascript Core Engine
• Faster Startup time
• Growing ecosystem
• Primarily Javascript with some Zig

OnlyFans

What types of people are on OnlyFans?

Consumers:

• Individuals that are looking for sexually explicit content who may also want exclusive access.
• People that also have interests in other converging and diverse areas.
• It is often stated that the platform caters to incels which may indirectly promote violence and misogyny.

Content Creators:

• Generally, described variously as sex workers that produce sexually explicit content for consumers.
• These people can vary across their interest groups from fitness trainers, artists, musicians, social media influencers to models.
• Although, it is primarily known for sexual content, there may be other diverse content on the platform for a range of users.

What are free radicals?

Free radicals are reactive molecules containing an unpaired electron. They are unstable and able to steal electrons from other molecules which causes damage to cells and tissues. They are produced naturally within the body as a byproduct of metabolism which can also be generated through pollution, radiation, and smoking. Some free radicals help with immunity. While excess can lead to oxidative stress that triggers health problems like aging, cancer, and heart disease. To help neutralize free radicals and protect cells from damage it is important to consume antioxidants that are contained in fruits, vegetables, and supplements.  

Automated Image Generation

• Bannerbear
• adCreative
• Canva
• VistaCreate
• Adobe Express
• Bannerflow
• Creatopy
• DynaPictures
• Abyssale
• Creatomate
• Placid
• Frameshift
• Duply
• Switchboard
• Templated

What Language Could Replace Python?

Python has dominated the data science industry and its popularity continues to grow. The next big programming language that would likely replace Python will have the following elements in order to succeed:

• Rust speed, efficiency, and memory safety. 
• Julia scientific computing and data analysis features.
• Go simplicity, efficiency, and concurrency.
• C/C++ low-level integration and optimization.

The likely fifth set of features would be the extensions of AI embedded within the language with metaprogramming, metaphors, enhanced typing like gradual and dependent, better concurrency and parallelism, logic programming, functional programming, code completion, automatic bug detection, code generation, quantum computing integration, enhanced security and privacy, algorithmic machine learning abstractions, distributed federation, cognitive abstractions, direct support for services and testability, model assurance, automl features, self-correction, auto-scripting, self-documentation, model explainability and interpretability, and many other options.

Graduate Programs

Graduate Programs

MBA Programs

MBA Programs USA

MBA Programs USA

Online MBA Programs

Javascript vs Dart

Javascript:

Javascript comes with a huge ecosystem of frameworks and libraries. It follows the document object model and is great for web applications. However, the language is less performant on highly complex use cases and dynamic typing often leads to runtime errors. Javascript can be used for both frontend and backend. Unfortunately, it is only really good for single-threaded use cases. It supports object-orientation, cross-platform development, and asynchronous programming like callbacks, promises, and async/wait. 

Dart: 

Dart is a strongly typed language that is useful for cross-platform mobile applications and server-side that require more structure, static typing, and performance. Similar to Javascript, it is object-oriented, useful for cross-platform development, and provides asynchronous programming mechanisms. Unfortunately, it significantly lags behind in the community with a smaller ecosystem. However, this is likely to grow rapidly due to Flutter.

Use Dart for your next mobile app or game. The learning curve for Dart is relatively high because of a smaller community. Use Javascript if you rely on a larger ecosystem and would rather not reinvent the wheel.

Computer Vision Models

Some of the top performing deep learning models in computer vision are mentioned below. However, best is quite subjective and it really depends on the tasks, dataset, and requirements. Factors pertaining to the choice of model could range from accuracy, speed, model size, application, and data.

Image Classification:

• ResNet
• EfficientNet
• Vision Transformer

Object Detection:

• YOLO
• SSD
• Faster R-CNN

Image Segmentation:

• U-Net
• Mask R-CNN

Others:

• DINO
• CLIP

AI Artwork

AI Artwork

Korea, Japan, and China

Imagine what sort of a world it would be if Korea, China, and Japan were to ever form an economic alliance, similar to a European Union. This economic merger would have significant and profound economic implications. 

• Global Dominance
• Increased Innovation
• Extensive Global Influence
• Increased Trade and Investment
• Reduced Trade Barriers
• Extensive Global Competitiveness
• More Resilience to Economic Shocks

Why this is unlikely to ever happen?

• Political and Cultural Differences
• Threat to USA Hegemony
• Economic Disparities
• Social and Cultural Integration
• Geopolitical Implications
• Shift in Balance of Power
• New Global Trade Opportunities
• Geopolitical Tensions
• Geopolitical Resentment with Increased Competition

Top Innovations of 2024

• AI-Powered Scientific Discovery
• AI-Powered Language Models
• AI-Driven Drug Discovery
• AI-Enhanced Cybersecurity
• AI-Driven Drones
• AI-Enhanced Healthcare
• Advanced Battery Technologies
• Biodegradable Plastics
• Brain-Computer Interfaces
• Advanced Robotics
• Space Exploration
• Advancements in Self-Driving Autonomous Vehicles
• Advancements in Renewable Energy
• Sustainable Materials 
• Generative AI
• Carbon-Capturing Microbes
• Elastocalorics
• Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces
• High-Altitude Platform Stations
• Advancements in Quantum Computing

Top Universities Suck

Most people blindly only consider top universities for education. However, top universities does not mean a top education. One has to wonder the premium of prestige is it really worth it? The economic utility of a top university tends to be a lot lower compared to the overarching aspects of work experience. 

• Top universities come at a higher cost with huge student debt.
• There is significant intensity for competition. Usually this competition is from students with traditional backgrounds that are unwilling to challenge the status quo. It can lead to stress and burnout.
• Too much focus on prestige means the quality of education and individual student needs suffers significantly. 
• Limited personal attention makes it difficult to cater to the potentials of students.
• They may not be the best for everyone especially with the style of learning, interests, and career goals.
• There tends to be more focus on theory rather than practice. Grades become the emphasis of a narrowmind with limited opportunity for creativity and independent thinking.
• They may lead to a clique environment on university campus and false sense of self-worth, likely an increase in bullying culture.
• Top universities statistically also have higher incidents of rape, abuse, discrimination, and prejudices.
• The ROI from attending a top university may never materialize for you in the real-world especially if you take on a course that has limited opportunities.
• By focusing on academic performance one loses the entrepreneurial mindset.
• The university may also not be the best in teaching and research for your chosen course.
• Limited opportunities for apprenticeships and work experience.
• Law of diminishing returns: after a point, the additional benefits of attending a top university may not justify the additional cost.
• Prestige premium: going to a top university initially offers a slight advantage, but this diminishes over time.
• Overtime, it matters most what you do with the degree, what you learned from the course, not where you got it from.

Outsourcing is Expensive

Outsourcing is counterproductive and more expensive than building an in-house team. It is a less cost-effective solution. It is not just expensive, but also risky.

• Recruitment and onboarding becomes more complex
• Increase in infrastructure costs
• Complex employee benefits
• Lots of hidden overhead costs
• Less control on quality and service
• Less control on hiring needs
• Less control on tech talent
• Less control on security
• Things get lost through loopholes
• Projects become larger, dispersed, and inefficient
• Lots of red tape
• Everything adds up as a cost
• More bugs and less time for design and testing
• Faster time-to-market does not always mean better
• Scalability is questionable
• Access to questionable and mediocre specialized expertise
• Complex projects become more complex with increased costs
• Long-term partnerships lead to more vendor lock in and more ongoing costs of maintenance
• IP concerns on who owns what within the project
• Complex governance and compliance
• Difficult to manage standardization efforts
• Often leads to degradation in quality and service
• Increased corporate politics
• Loss of ownership and responsibility
• When things go wrong, they really go wrong, and often
• More effort to keep things as is rather than improve
• It is not in the best interest of the outsourcing third-party to produce a product that is free of bugs, continued maintenance means a long-term partnership
• Too many specialized jobs, many unnecessary, leads to less efficient and less productive employees
• Reduced job satisfaction, reduced quality of product, loss of ethics, loss of integrity, loss of culture
• Increased employee turnover
• More projects get canned
• Difficult to manage projects
• Increase in failure and chance of things going wrong
• Increased dependency on outsourcing third-party, internal frustration, and friction
• Outsourced employees don't care about your company or your product
• More potential for communication issues
• Language barriers
• Potential for time zone differences
• Potential for cultural differences
• Potential for misalignment
• Increased concern for data privacy and intellectual property
• Outsourcing third-party may not share, understand, or even care for your company vision
• Difficult to monitor on work and progress
• Outsourcing is more of a scam rather than a business solution
• Increased costs in transition for the transfer of knowledge and processes
• Potential for hidden fees and unexpected expenses
• Reduced and limited innovation opportunities which are often stifled by the outsourcing third-party
• Difficult to get new funding on projects
• Too many weak links within the corporate environment
• Difficult to control what the outsourcing third-party is sharing with other clients about your project who may be your key competitors, potential for leakage in trade secrets even with a non-disclosure and/or non-compete agreement

Failure of Western Economics

Western economics has experienced a lot of success over the years through technological advancements, globalization, and innovation. But, it has also faced challenges through credit crisis, natural disasters, pandemics, and other issues. Most western economies over the years have experienced higher living standards and reduced sense of poverty. Capitalism has provided a shift in focus towards the incentivized growth and success of the individual. However, this has also provided higher levels of inequality, environmental damage, stagnant wages, rising debt levels, and financial instability. Focus towards GDP growth has led to unsustainable practices and neglect of both the social and environmental well-being. It has also increased the gap in wealth and power in concentrations towards a few. This has been seen as a major flaw in many western economies. Although, western economic models are complex, increasingly they are showing failure in economic sustainability with a bleak future outlook. Politicians continue to display policy interests towards a wealthy few and neglect towards the greater population which has dire consequences. In many respects, western economies are showing a very heavy burden on the taxpayer with rising cost of living while also displaying irresponsibility for the outpouring of funds for financing foreign wars that have very negative global economic implications. The heightened sense of uncertainty has led to significant stagnation across the western economic frontiers.

Drawbacks of Bitcoin

Bitcoin has been gaining in popularity as of late. However, it has fundamental downsides that means diversification with minimizaton of risk is key. The below highlight some common drawbacks of Bitcoin investing.

• Extreme Volatility - Bitcoin is highly volatile with rapid fluctuations in market sentiment.
• Regulatory Uncertainty - Bitcoin has an uncertain trajectory with significant impact on value from regulatory changes that are still evolving.
• Security Risks - Bitcoin wallets and exchanges are targets for hackers. If you lose access to wallet or it is compromised you could lose your investment.
• Lack of Intrinsic Value - There is no intrinsic value. It is difficult to measure the asset value of Bitcoin in real terms. The value is derived from demand and speculation.
• Energy Consumption - Bitcoin is a drain to the environment with a growing energy footprint.
• Limited Acceptance - Bitcoin is not widely accepted form of payment and has limited use cases.
• Psychological Risks - Bitcoin is emotionally draining due to high price fluctuations.
• Tax Implications - Bitcoin investing comes with complex tax implications that vary by jurisdiction which means understanding your tax obligation can be tricky. 

AI Consciousness

• Consciousness for AI
• Artificial Consciousness and Human-Robot Interaction
• Do Machines Really Understand Meaning
• Consciousness in AI
• AI Consciousness is Inevitable
• A Case for AI Consciousness
• Is artificial consciousness achievable?
• Artificial consciousness
• AI Consciousness and Public Perceptions
• Conscious AI
• If consciousness is dynamically relevant, artificial intelligence isn't conscious

City and Management Simulation Games

• SimCity 4
• Cities: Skylines
• Anno 1800
• Tropico Series
• Ostriv
• TheoTown
• Surviving Mars
• Prison Architect
• Theme Park

First-Person Shooter Games

Modern Classics:

• Doom Eternal
• Halo: Infinite
• Titanfall 2
• Half-Life: Alyx

Competitive Shooters:

• Counter-Strike Global Offensive
• Valorant
• Overwatch 2
• Apex Legends

Others:

• Call of Duty
• Battlefield 2042
• Crysis
• Hunt: Showdown
• Deep Rock Galactic

War Simulation Games

Grand Strategy:

• Hearts of Iron IV
• Europa Universalis IV
• Crusader Kings III

Real-Time Strategy:

• Company of Heroes 2
• Men of War: Assault Squad 2
• Steel Division 2
• Command & Conquer

Tactical/Squad:

• Arma 3
• Squad
• Hell Let Loose

Historical:

• Total War: Warhammer III
• Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
• Age of Empires IV

Others:

• War Thunder
• World of Tanks
• XCom2

Asian Animation

Donghua are animation forms made in China with diverse styles and genres from traditional to modern. These animations tend to have a more realistic look. Themes and storylines are influenced from Chinese mythology and history.

Anime are animation forms made in Japan with distinctive styles, colors and diverse stories. These animations tend to have a more exaggerated look. Themes and storylines are very diverse with explorations into fantasy, scifi, and slice-of-life.

Aeni are animation forms made in Korea with similarities often shared with Anime and Donghua across various styles and genres with distinctive western variations. These animations tend to have a more realistic look. Themes and storylines are more realistic with grounded stories.

In many respects, different animation variations may share cross influences in both themes, storylines, styles, and genres. Asian animation is evolving and diverse with huge options.

These categories may include further sub-genres and styles, such as:

• Mecha which includes robots, war, technology, and humanity.
• Magical Girl which includes girls that transform into magical fighters against evil.
• Slice-of-Life which covers everyday lives of ordinary individuals which include themes like friendship and family.
• Historical which includes ancient periods covering real-world events.
• Fantasy which focuses on magic and myth within a fantastical world.
• Scifi which focuses on futuristic and technologically advanced experiences.
• Wuxia which focuses on martial arts with a mix of fantasy.
• Xianxia which focuses on Chinese mythology and folklore with immorality and cultivation.
• Xuanhuan which focuses on magic and supernatural powers.
• Manhua which covers Chinese comics
• Manhwa which covers Korean comics
• Manga which covers Japanese comics
• Comedy which covers humor and satire
• Cyberpunk which covers futuristic dystopian themes.
• Guohuaxianxia which covers Chinese mythology and folklore.
• Psychological which covers dark and disturbing psychological themes.
• Idol which covers idols and their fans.
• Music which covers musical performances.
• Isekai which covers fantastical characters that get transported to other worlds.
• Sports which covers sports competitions.
• Martial Arts which covers martial arts combats.

Artificial Intelligence has been increasingly used in Asian Animations and will continue to make a significant impact in the programmatic generation and production. Some areas which have significantly had AI influences include: in-betweening, lip-syncing, character animation, art styles, character rigging, motion capture, rendering, visual experiences, and story development. 

Alice's Adventures of Neural Networks

Alice's Adventures of Neural Networks

No-Code LLM App Builders

No-code LLM app builders

GenAI, AGI, and Superintelligence

Artificial Intelligence has come along way. However, AI still faces a significant challenge and several roadblocks. They can assist us in mundane tasks but not completely replace humans in many tasks that require complex learning and adaptability. The below highlight the primary three areas of AI advancement stages. We are currently in the first GenAI stage of enlightenment. There is still a long way to go before AI becomes a real competitive contender to a human and even to surpass those human limits.

Generative AI (GenAI):

• Focus: Content generation in audio, video, image, code, and text in a specific application
• Capabilities: Trained on huge datasets to generate near human-replicated content
• Current State: Advanced use cases across industry for various applications

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI):

• Focus: Human-level intelligence for generalizable tasks
• Capabilities: Ability to understand and learn any human task
• Current State: Not yet achievable with ongoing research progress

Superintelligence:

• Focus: Ability to go beyond human intelligence
• Capabilities: Able to do things beyond human comprehension and abilities
• Current State: Not yet achievable, still in theoretical stage

Enhanced GenAI With Knowledge Graphs

Enhanced GenAI With Knowledge Graphs 

GenAI For Beginners

GenAI For Beginners

Dreams

Dreams 

Java vs Go vs C vs C++

The below highlight the key areas where the various programming languages are used and their summarized characteristic differences. 

Java

• Syntax: More verbose, object-oriented
• Concurrency: Thread-based
• Memory Management: Garbage Collection
• Ecosystem: Mature, extensive libraries and frameworks
• Performance: Generally slower startup time, but good performance at runtime
• Learning Curve: Steeper learning curve
• Use Cases: Enterprise Application, Android Development, Big Data and Data Science

Go

• Syntax: Concise, more procedural
• Concurrency: Goroutines and channels
• Memory Management: Garbage collection
• Ecosystem: Growing, but less mature than Java
• Performance: Faster compilation and runtime
• Learning Curve: Easier to learn
• Use Cases: Microservices Architecture, Cloud-Native Applications, Network Programming and    Systems Programming, High-Performance Applications

C

• Syntax: Low-level, procedural
• Concurrency: Threads
• Memory Management: Manual
• Ecosystem: Smaller ecosystem, but focused on system-level programming
• Performance: High performance, low-level control
• Learning Curve: Steep learning curve
• Use Cases: Systems Programming, Embedded Systems, Operating Systems

C++

• Syntax: Complex, object-oriented
• Concurrency: Threads
• Memory Management: Manual
• Ecosystem: Large, complex ecosystem
• Performance: High performance, fine-grained control
• Learning Curve: Steep learning curve
• Use Cases: High-Performance Applications, Game Development, Scientific Computing

OpenFIGI

OpenFIGI

Mage

Mage

Knowledge Graph Visualization

Knowledge Graph Visualization

What We Learned From A Year of LLM

What We Learned From A Year of LLM

Stable Diffusion 3

Stable Diffusion 3

What Future Holds For Gen AI

What Future Holds For Gen AI

GPT-4o Assistants

GPT-4o Assistants

How To Tell Which LLM Model Is Best

How To Tell Which LLM Model Is Best

Google Tiny Model

Google Tiny Model

Transformer Explainer

Transformer Explainer

Grok Image Generator

Grok Image Generator

From GenAI to Multi-Agents

From GenAI to Multi-Agents

TorchTune

TorchTune

Large Language Model Agents

Large Language Model Agents

Understandable Novel Architecture

Understandable Novel Architecture

Llama

Llama

AI Crackdown

AI Crackdown

AI Can Only Do 5% of Jobs

AI Can Only Do 5% of Jobs 

Hollywood Dubbing

Hollywood Dubbing

Movie Gen

Movie Gen

AI Oversight

AI Oversight

Preserving Memories

Swarm

Swarm

Open Canvas

Open Canvas

Parallel Web

Parallel Web

Data Entry

One of the simplest jobs in adminstration is of a data entry. The primary skills required are accuracy to detail and typing skills. Hiring an irresponsible person can mean applications get rejected because of sticky finger errors. Applications can imply anything that require a form. This can range from loans, bank account forms, immigration/visa forms, job forms, vetting forms, insurance claims, health forms, academic forms, and other applications. Incorrect entry of customer details can mean non-compliance to GDPR as it is all about storage and processing of correct personal information. It also means perfectly good applications get rejected, with bad service, and a very frustrated customer. Even replacing human data entry with AI can further compound the issue with an element of complexity if the model has high false-positives and false-negatives. The below outline some examples where system and human errors lead to incorrect processing, storage, and ultimately rejection of applications:

• When proof of documents have numbers in different currencies and the system says they don't match
• When a number is called out as incorrect even after providing proof of documentation with the correct number on it, even worse if the same proof is provided multiple times
• Making assumptions about what the customer meant rather than what is actually on the form
• Incorrectly inputting the correct details from the form
• Giving the customer the runaround to provide documentation which has already been provided multiple times
• Unable to use basic common sense when processing customer data forms
• Flagging a customer based on an incorrect data input then blaming the customer for it
• Incorrectly inputting the form data while half asleep
• Losing the customer form and expecting the customer to fill out another form
• Asking for the same information over and over without bothering to read the document
• Confusing one application form with another
• Rejecting an application by incorrectly mixing up details across two separate application forms
• Providing customer with reasons to decline the application that relate to another customer
• Sharing one customer details with another customer in the feedback
• Trying to correct the spelling of someone's name as if the customer would not know how to spell their own name
• Inputting month before the day, and day before the month without bothering to check for correctness between the form and the system
• Leaving out critical information from the form
• Badly worded forms get filled incorrectly which means lots of declined applications
• Some of the most irresponsible and negligent are credit reference agencies who don't even have the basic systems in place to properly resolve, update, verify, validate, store, and process customer data accurately. Individuals as members of public have to chase up for errors and corrections on simple things like names and addresses which shows how credit reference agencies fail in their most basic role of proactively practicing due care for the protection of customer data.  

W3C

W3C has been a long standing consortium for the development and support of web standards. However, in many ways it has also been a hinderance to the community and the uptake of standards in development.

Benefits:

• A way for community to come together, collaborate, and research on improving web standardization efforts
• Shape the future of how web is used
• Connect with thought leaders across the world
• Develop consistency, accessibility, compatibility across the community

Drawbacks:

• The community members tend to be academic and often very arrogant in their selective interaction and collaboration
• Community members tend to be racist and discriminatory
• Practical compliance and ethics often seems as an afterthought
• A disconnect between academic members vs industry members
• A disconnect between cultural differences across the spectrum of web standards
• Majority of academic members are biased and lack basic ethics
• Lots of favoritism for selective academic members especially for specific sponsored members
• Processes, tools, and methods are antiquated
• Standardization efforts are slow moving and lack basic practical insights from industry
• Collaboration and communication is often discriminatory in nature, don't be suprised if the person on the other end assumes you are a clueless buffoon, showcasing an unapproachable attitude of a lot of members within the community
• Egotistic and arrogant members ruins collaborations which leads to a dwindling community of active members
• A lot of the W3C standards are not in favor anymore in industry or are outdated
• Web standardization efforts is not progressing fast enough to keep up with the ML/DL community

W3C

ChatGPT vs Gemini

ChatGPT and Gemini are both widely popular Large Language Model chatbots that have gained significant interest in the AI community. ChatGPT was built by OpenAI. And, Gemini was built by Google. However, both respectively have their strengths and weaknesses. Both model chatbots provide a free playground as well as paid options.

Architecture and Training:

Gemini was trained on a broader and more extensive dataset that allows for more flexibility across modalities for understanding and generation with more complex reasoning for problem-solving.

ChatGPT has been trained on standard text data for more creative generation of content. This is likely to  evolve further across the different versions to include multiple modalities.

Advantages and Disadvantages:

Gemini provides better coding ability, smoother conversation flow, enhanced understanding of complex concepts, and more problem-solving ability. While it sort of lacks on the creative front. It is also newer relatively in comparison to ChatGPT.

ChatGPT provides better creative skills for generation that require less understanding and complex reasoning. It has also iterated and evolved over time in different versions.

Use Cases:

Use Gemini when you want a code assistance and more granular reasoning with content. Use ChatGPT when you want to enhance your creative prowess. However, one common caveat across both chatbots is the questionable ethics, bias, and privacy controls. To err on side of caution, don't share personal data with the chatbots.

ChatGPT

Gemini

Schema.org

Schema.org is useful markup to have on website as it makes it search engine friendly while helping them understand the content and internal structure which enables better search results. However, the schema.org website lacks clarity and is difficult to navigate like a clutter of information.

Benefits:

• Enables search engines to better understand content on sites that rank higher on search results
• Improve click-through rates and organically increase traffic on site 
• Provide more flexibility and context to how sites appear in search results
• Increase user search relevancy
• Improve strategy for content and context
• Improve user experience
• Flexibility on markup from microdata, rdfa, and jsonld
• Provides a meta vocabulary to define the context of the site
• Extract who, what, when, why from sites 

Drawbacks:

• Unfriendly schema.org community for suggestions, feedback, and improvements
• Submitting new changes or schemas is slow and often fraught with frustration 
• Terrible and difficult to navigate schema.org site as the information is cluttered
• Community is not very open and unwelcoming to new users
• No real reasoning and significant effort towards web of data queryability 
• Community is discriminatory towards user suggestions, submissions, and approval process 
• Very opinionated and closed community which makes it unconstructive 
• Huge Google bias with often rude and arrogant community members 
• Markup often is buggy, flawed, and inflexible to community changes 
• Process is fraught with trial and error
• Difficult to develop a strategy around the markup 
• Difficult to implement at scale with larger websites 
• Maintaining markup is a challenge 
• It is subjective and questionable whether the markup significantly improves discoverability 
• Limited tools that support and provide insights into the markup 
• Inflexible schema.org developer community makes the standard inaccessible, inextensible, and unmaintainable 
• Unclear documentation on the schema.org website 
• The markup is still very limited in context and scope especially for larger websites 
• Lacks sufficient domain coverage as a markup

Although, the project has a long history and many websites make use of such markup, it has significant drawbacks that justify alternative efforts. The project is also Google sponsored with a significant corporate bias which defeats the merit and accessibility for an open community engagement. The often slow process means the markup lacks speed in reaching its full potential. An active open community may speed up the process but this is likely to be a significant roadblock from the existing community of developers who are not very forthright with community engagement. Bugs in schemas take a very long time to resolve and usually recommendations are not appreciated in the community. There is significant concern for websites to use such markup where the community is often unapproachable and inflexible. After all, it is supposed to be a web standard which arises from a community effort and engagement. Lastly, a markup that lacks readability, reasoning, and trust as a web standard is likely to be insufficient for the spectrum of web crawling, semantic search, web of data, and AI in general.

Schema.org

Nostr

Nostr

Netflix Terrible Recommendations

Netflix is all hype. The quality of recommendations and personalization is terrible and lacks variety of content. The entire flow of rating system looks flawed. And, when you refresh the browser the same content that you thumbs down on reappears at the very top. The infinite scrolling is annoying. The algorithm does not personalize to watch habits of a user. Majority of the recommendations seem to be new and irregular. 

Netflix has an inaccurate and insufficient data collection gathering process which leaves an incomplete dataset for a recommendation model. The model is neither sufficiently able to gather how you use the platform nor how you don't use it while ignoring user interests and intents.

Netflix algorithms try to measure correlation but not sufficiently causation. It is not able to answer "why". This is in fact the whole point of a recommendation algorithm to utilize insights in order to make deeper contextual decisions on personalization to match items to users. 

Netflix algorithms lack sufficient reasoning skills to understand the habits of the user to provide better recommendations in respect of context, intents, and interests. The connections drawn between two points of data seem blurred. This may be as a result of tastes that are not fixed but tend to change. Unfortunately, there is also lack of filters for the user to provide additional data. This could include preferences as part of user profile. The fundamental filtering attributes of grouping items with the user in context seems to be missing for quality recommendations.  There is also little to no common sense in the recommendations. It often seems like the user will be trapped in a bubble of sorts. Also, one would assume that they would also recommend their own produced content to recuperate production costs through the platform and take benefit from user data. Furthermore, this may even provide insights on future production projects.

Finally, there is a significant lack of content variety on the platform. A huge bias towards Indian content over other regional content. The content library needs a complete reboot with more flexibility on user preference filters. And, an increase in frequency of new content to be able to sustainably compete with other streaming platform providers.

Worst Regions for Employment

The following regions have the worst employers where the chances of getting exploited are high with such low pay that they expect you to almost work for free:

• India
• Israel
• Saudi Arabia
• Kuwait
• Brazil
• Bangladesh
• Belarus
• Ecuador
• Egypt
• Philippines
• Colombia
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Romania
• Mexico
• Nigeria
• Sudan
• Madagascar
• Costa Rica
• Venezuela
• Bulgaria
• Myanmar
• Tunisia
• Algeria
• Iraq
• Yemen
• Afghanistan
• Nepal
• Bhutan
• North Korea
• Moldova
• Ukraine
• Georgia
• North Macedonia
• Albania
• Burkina Faso
• Chad
• Ethiopia
• Uganda
• Somalia
• Djibouti
• Libya
• Mauritania
• Ghana
• Eritrea
• Kenya
• Senegal
• Peru
• Western Sahara
• Liberia
• Sierra Leone
• Niger
• Cameroon
• Rawanda
• Tanzania
• Malawi
• Mozambique
• Angola
• Namibia
• Botswana
• Zimbabwe
• Zambia
• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Chile
• Uruguay
• Paraguay
• Cuba
• Puerto Rico
• Vietnam
• Cambodia
• Thailand
• Laos
• South Sudan

Splink

Splink

Scam Jobs at Indian Companies

If you are ever approached by Indian companies in either Europe and USA, be warned. Most of their roles are placeholders. They advertise for scam jobs. Most of the work will likely be carried out in India on the cheap. The jobs they have in Europe and USA are mostly for window dressing for client engagement. Avoid at all cost. Unless you want to be stuck in an unhappy job with zero work/life balance within a terrible organization.

Things to notice:

• Job descriptions that have catch all with a lot of excessive keyword stuffing
• Interviewers are very passive, and at times aggressive, and not actively engaged
• Interviewers that are overlooking the technical details when you ask probing questions
• Interviewers that are clearly indicating that 'you won't be doing this'
• Interviewers are very high-level about most things
• Compensation is often brought up in every stage in an attempt to reduce and to ask you how flexible you are
• Through the stages you will find out that the entire process is a scam to fill roles as placeholders
• Through the stages you will find out that the role is not what is advertised, in fact the job title likely does not match the job description
• Check the reviews, most likely other candidates have also been treated badly through the process
• They often will seem in a rush to hire that is because they have likely not secured the funding for the project
• Most Indian companies have significantly lower payscales that are below local market rates
• Their entire process will be riddled with unprofessionalism
• At times, the HR and interviewer engagement will also be quite rude and unapproachable
• Be very careful to spot the deceptions, indian companies are notorious at lying both to clients as well as to the general public
• Non-compliance issues with processing and storing of your personal info (some may even share your personal info with third-parties)
• There is a reason why people talk so badly about indian companies in social media discussion boards, simply put huge number of people have had bad experiences

Sample companies that often advertise scam jobs on job boards:

• Tata Consultancy
• HCL
• Wipro
• Infosys
• Mindtree
• Mphasis
• Mindspace
• Tech Mahindra
• NTT Data (although, a japanese company, specifically their indian heavy departments)

Increasingly, outsourcing means more and more companies are advertising scam jobs. Some USA and Europe companies that also have big indian hubs that advertise fake job ads:

• Accenture
• KPMG
• Deloitte
• Ernst & Young
• CapGemini
• Sopra Steria